Monday, July 29, 2013

The Book of Helen by Sherry Antonetti

The Book of Helen is a historical fiction
about a historical fiction. At 65, Helen of Troy is newly widowed and
exiled to the island of Rhodes where she's been offered sanctuary by the ruler,
her childhood friend, Queen Polyoxo. Having no rule, no family, no
husband, no power and no role, Helen is striving to once again give the world a
reason to remember her and to know something of her story as opposed to the
poet's take. Helen's story addresses the three questions never answered in
Greek Myths. 1) Why did she leave with Paris --impulsive yes but this is a
powerful smart beautiful woman, there had to be more for her than eye candy to
leave a life of luxury and power 2) why didn't the Trojans just toss her over
the wall when she showed up with so much baggage that wasn't Spartan gold
--i.e. the 1000 ships of ticked off Greeks and 3) what made Menelaus take her
back when she'd put him through public humiliation and a 10 year war of waste?
The line in Homer's poem is, "She bared her breast, he dropped his
sword." But there had to be more than that. Her newly acquired
scribe Pythia acts as the keeper of Helen's treasures and memories and helps
her reestablish herself in her new home, but there are some not so willing to
forget the wounds of Helen's past that made her the most famous in addition to
being the most beautiful, woman in the world.

“Vain, ignorant, power hungry fools you’ve begotten Menelaus!” she
muttered, and looked out again at the smoke from her husband’s pyre. “Goddesses
give me all the strengths you have, I’ll need them!” and she set about changing
from a mourning widow to a ruling queen.

She fingered
several dresses before settling on the deep gray robe trimmed with the thinnest
line of gold. It conveyed a sense of power. Perfect.
She let down her hair, weaving in a golden rope to help obscure the grey. A
tall alabaster bottle, shaped like a swan, a gift from her mother, held her
favorite perfume. Opening it filled the room with the heady scent of lemon and
heart of jasmine, along with notes of rose, vanilla and amber. It provided her
with the comfort, the presence of an ally, even though an unseen one. Jeweled
gold combs placed in her hair set the sides softly. Arching her back and
lifting her neck to appear even taller, she left the chamber.

The full council
was already in session. “How long ago did they start?” she wondered.

Xenodamos held the floor. He spoke forcefully about the need to
show strength against the Dorians, reasserting Spartan roots. “We need to show
the same teeth which made us the most feared of all peoples. To do this, we
must act not as kings or queens. We must act as free Spartans!” The men nodded
in agreement.

“The great kings of old eschewed riches, sweets and soft things.”
His eyes lingered on Helen in her finery. “They saw modesty and self discipline
as the price of their freedom. They refused the honey cakes and sweet wines of
those they defeated so as not to take on the slavish habits of the conquered
who could not endure long without their luxuries.” He paused as his half
brother stood up, dramatically opening a large scroll. The queen grudgingly
conceded it was a beautifully planned performance and a more sophisticated
elegant argument than anything Xenodamos or Megapenthes might devise. Someone
else orchestrated this show.

Xenodamos
continued, “The Dorians have threatened to take over much of the Greek
mainland. They care only for the advancement of their own power.”

Megapenthes spread out his map detailing the sea coast islands.
“They have taken much of the land, burned villages, destroyed armies.” He
pointed to places on the map with his knife. We cannot let Sparta or its people
become part of the Dorian conquest. We must stop them here.” He pointed to
Athens.

“If I may speak
in the midst of this fine presentation,” Helen walked to the center of the
room. She still commanded everyone’s attention. But she caught the whisper of
one of her sons, “This ought to be good.”

“It’s true. The
king is dead and we have a pending crisis on our hands. We all know the Dorians
outnumber us five to one. As my son pointed
out, we have seen their ruthlessness in the destruction of whole towns.

“We are strong. But even we need time to assemble an army to take
on such a force. We are not ready. Send an envoy with some of our ‘softer
things’ Xenodamos so rightly condemns, to lull them into thinking we will
surrender without a struggle.” She surveyed the map gesturing to the same
points Megapenthes marked with nicks from his knife.

“The Dorians have
already spread themselves across much of the Northern provinces. They may
appreciate the opportunity not to have to battle again so soon. It will allow
us to gather our forces, assemble allies and devise a strategy for plucking
them from our shores.”

Megapenthes shook
his head. Xenodamos glowered. Helen could see the men considering her proposal.
“I didn’t even have a plan until now.” she thought smugly. Some in the audience
were swayed. Her plan seemed not only reasonable but crafty. Nicostratus, the
one stepson she loved well, even trusted, stood. He would help her win the day.

About Writing The Book Helen: The Book of Helen started when I was stuck in the hospital with my eighth
child. My daughter was two weeks old and had RSV, a congestive virus which can
be fatal to newborns if left untreated. In between fretting and nursing
and fretting at the nurses, I was reading the Odyssey. I'd left for the
hospital in a hurry and my husband thoughtfully tucked the translation he'd
just bought into my bag of stuff. There were two lines about Helen
slipping opium into the wine of the warriors as they talked about Odysseus and
the Trojan war with Odysseus's son, Telemcachus. I thought, that little minx!
She's drugging them so they won't get worked up about who started it all and I
started writing Helen stories, about her betrothal, about her treasures, and so
the story started to hinge on the tokens and gifts she'd acquired over her
life.

Then I started thinking
about Helen and her version of what happened and why. I started reading
other Helen myths and discovered that she is the original Fan fiction character
in Western literature, because every age crafted her to their own image either
of what feminine beauty should be, or of the dangers of a beautiful woman. She
became a resident of Hell in Dante's inferno, she's been a lover, a pawn of the
gods, a rape victim, a shallow woman who liked boy toy eye candy, and a strong
woman who could argue her case even to the people who suffered most for her
decisions. While the Odyssey and the Iliad remained the same, Helen was often
plucked from her story and plunged into new ones. It was fun and for a first
time writer, wonderful, because whenever I got stuck in the writing
process, it was time to go back to reading, there were always new myths,
new stories to discover. I envisioned my Helen as an Ancient world's
CEO, capable, detail oriented, a manager of people and things, controlling and
showy, in addition to being spoiled, beautiful, demanding and at the same time,
thoughtful about how things should be as well as how they are. Six years,
three laptops and two more children later, she's
ready.

Sherry
G. Antonetti has a master’s in Special Education from Boston College in
addition to being a stay at home mom to her ten children.